Coasting-railway



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W. E. SMITH. .GOASTING RAILWAY. No. 474,351. Patented May 3. 1892.

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No. 474,351. Patented May 3, 1892. Y

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILL E. SMITH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COASTI NG-RAI LWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 474,351, dated May 3,1892.

Applicationflledugust 1,1891. seriaINo. 401,358. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern,.- y

Beit known that I, WILL E. SMITH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in have the county of Cook and State oi Illinois,invented certain new and useful Improvements in @casting-Railways, whichare fully set forth in the following specification, referp ence beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, and in which-Figure l shows mynew and improved coasting-railway in side elevation.Fig. 2 shows the surface of Fig. l in plan view. Fig. 3 shows theconstruction of the switches and frogs made to side tracks. Fig. 4Eshows the details of construction in side elevation on an enlargedscale. Fig. 5 shows the construction of Fig. et in cross -section on atransverse plane at x of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 shows a modified form ot myturn-table in plan view. Fig. 7 shows a transverse central verticalsection of Fig. 6.

Like letters refer to like parts.

The object of my invention is to cheapen and improve the details ofconstruction of coasting-railways, whereby greater advantages in bothsafety and pleasure may be attained, as will appear from the followingspecifcation. i

I construct mysaid railway in substantially the following manner,namely: I construct bents c, which I unite at and place upon the samebase and spread apart at the top, so as to form V-shaped structures whenlseen at their ends. Said structures are set apart suitable distancesand connected at a proper elevation by chords b. From the junction ofsaid chords b and bents a rise smaller bents c, which again formV-shaped Iigures with the bents a. The bents care heldin their properplaces by and support blocks don a level with the tops of the bents a.The distances between the bents d are divided into three substantiallyequal spaces by said blocks d. On the top of said bents are laidstringere c, composed of a series of plates laid on top of each other,which break joints and which are spiked or bolted, and thus connect thetops of said bents and blocks. On said stringers are laid ties f, upon,which are laid T-rails g. Said bents are braced with braces h, inclinedfrom their base to the side on which the` opposite track runs, and thetrestles on which the opposite track runs are braced with braces h',which oppose the braces 7L.

In Iny said coasting-railwaythere are always two tracks A B, of whichone is the outgoing and the other the return track. VVEach of saidtracks is provided with the same style ot bents as those abovedescribed, and each set of bents for both tracks rests upon a singlesill it', and said sets of bents are made of varying heights, so as tomake an undulatory or wave-like surface for the rails. This latter pointis only desirable, but not necessary, as the tracks may be made of oneuniform straight inclination from the starting-point to the iinalterminus, with the turn-table at or near the middle of the grade and ofits length. Through this construction of the trestle-work orsubstructure a very light and comparatively inexpensive, yet very tirIn,structure is obtained, upon which my improved coastingrailway proper islaid. Said railway consists of two tracks A B vertically parallel witheach other, though as to that the tracks might be curved laterally alsoand need not at all be parallel. The starting-point is, however, thehighest and the terminal point the lowest part of t-he entire trackirrespective of all the intermediate undulations. Both tracks are atabout the saine level at the turn-table j. Said turn-table is pivotedmidway between the two tracks, and upon it are two or more tracks soplaced as to receive the car from the outgoing track and, after turning,again discharge the car onto the return track. Where there are threesets of tracks on the turn-table, some curvature of the main tracks willbe required; but in that case it will not be necessary to turn the tablearound so far to again discharge the car. The terminal point of thereturn track B is lower by a height sufficient for the length of tracksto give the loaded car a desired velocity, but so as to avoid making agreater distance than really necessaryin height between the initial andIinal ends of said tracks.

To avoid all possible danger of the car running ott the turn-table whilebeing turned around, I build alow stout wall 7c just beyond thecircumference of the turn-table,` through which are cut notches to passthe car-wheels. By means of this arrangement the car cannot run oft theturn-table at any other point than loo that at which the tracks on theturn-table coincide with the outside tracks. Beyond the turn-table is ashort piece of track Z, which rises somewhat abruptly above theturn-table for the purpose ot' gradually, yet shortly, stopping the carshould it happen to have momentum enough to carry it beyond theturntable. n

Between the starting and and terminal ends of the .tracks A B there is aseries ot connected frogs, switches, and a short track by means of whichthe empty car maybe both raised and transferred to the starting-point ofthe track A. Vhen the car has arrived at the end of the track B andbeyond the frogs and switches, it is relieved of its load and thenpushed by hand upon the short side track n, on which it passes alongupon the short trackv n', parallel with or midway between the tracks AB. Ihen the car is fully on said track n', its motion is reversed andthrough the proper arrangement of the frogs and switches the ear willpass upon the track n2 and from it through yet other frogs and switchesupon the main track A, and thus it will be returned to itsstarting-point. The detailed construction of the saidtracks n n n2 isshown in Fig. 3 on an enlarged scale. The side track n ascends from thetrack B into the track n', and from it the track n2 ascends intothetrack A. A

Staircase 0 leads to a platform p on a level near .the end of theoutgoing track and intermediate tracks near the terminal point of thereturn track, which by a both upward and lateral course connect with themain track near its starting-point, substantially as specified.

2. In a coasting-railway, the combination, With outgoing andl returntracks, of a turntable surrounded bya fixed and notched wall wherein thenotches fit said main tracks, substantially as specified.

3. In a coasting-railway, the combination,

with outgoing and return tracks, of intermediate tracks near theterminal end of the return track, Which by a both upward and lateralcourse connect with the main track near its starting-point,substantially as specified.

4. The combination, with outgoing and rel turn tracks, of separate bentsrising and spreading from the samesillinto V-shaped supports connectedby chords b, and intermediate smaller bents rising from the inner sidesot' said main bents and carrying blocks d, and stringers to connect thetops of said bents and blocks, substantially as specified.

5. The combination, with the outgoing and return tracks, of` separatebents resting on a single sill and oppositely braced and spread at theirupper ends, so as to form V-shaped` supports connected by chords b, andintermediate. smaller bents rising from the inner sides of the mainbents and carrying blocks d, and stringers composed of severaloverlapping members to connect the tops ot' said bents and blocks,substantially as specified.

WILL E. SMITH. Witnesses:

' W. O. BLACK,

E. I. BRINEGAR.

